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Tilly and Rose Learn to Dance with Richard and Judy
I was watching Richard and Judy's first new show for the summer, when they asked if anyone was interested in doing dog dancing to music; it was open to anyone with no previous training to apply. So straight away I emailed and couldn't believe that I got through! They put me in touch with Karen (poor soul) who subsequently contacted me and we made arrangements to meet. Our first meeting was to be filmed by channel 4 and then the training started in earnest.
Karen met with Tilly and me twice a week either in Derby or at Karen's home. I live in Stoke on Trent, so there was a fair amount of travelling involved just to meet up. In between time we kept in touch by email and text to make sure that Tilly and I were progressing adequately. I really think that Karen was a hero taking a dog on with no motivation for food or toys. As it went on I found out that as Tilly was only a Yorkshire terrier I was over feeding her, so I cut her biscuits out and tried to tempt her with tasty treats to reward her for working. I couldn't believe my eyes the first time Tilly did something for me as she could only sit before. What a lot of treats we went through trying to find some thing that rang Tilly's bell to get her going. When we had to choose a piece of music we agreed on a cut down version of Freddy Mercury singing DON 'T STOP ME NOW !
Tilly and I practiced twice a day and found it a lot harder than I originally thought it would be but we got some really good moves out of her. The fourth week channel 4 came to film again and as Tilly takes some warming up before she decides that she is actually going to dance I was worried she wouldn't do it. We went down to London on the 24 th of August. Karen was waiting at the studios for us and we had a great time. First we had our make up done and then we had rehearsals. After Tilly warmed up we got it right 3 times.
Then it was time for live show. We had to talk on the settee to Richard and Judy and then it was all systems go. We went over to the stage area and following a short introduction form Richard 'Don't Stop Me Now' played. Because of the wait in the studio before we went on and the time sat on the sofa during the interview Tilly was not really ready to put her all into the whole performance so she did wander off for a moment but I managed to get her back and did some Twirls Spins Weaves and highs. It was all over so fast. I do hope we didn't let Karen down
Karen's View
Let me down? Definitely not! Rose and Tilly did absolutely brilliantly when you consider the previous experience that they had (absolutely none!) along with the time scale that they had to work to. Normally with a dog that has no previous experience I would look at getting the dog and handler really motivated and tuned into each other. However, without the benefit of unlimited time, Rose did remarkably well. I don't think that any handler could have got more out of Tilly than Rose did. Rose is a very sympathetic handler, has a great sense of humour, ability to follow instruction accurately and an incredible love for her dog. I could ask for no more! he really good news is that we are still in touch and Rose is continuing to teach Tilly who is improving brilliantly now that the time pressure is off. I look forward to seeing Rose & Tilly take to the floor in competition one day.
The Strictly Canine Dancing Final
3 teams qualified for the Strictly Canine Dancing Final; Sue Brown & Merlin trained by Richard Curtis, Kate Foot & Louie trained by Gina Pink and Beth Lee & Billy trained by Kath Hardman.
The Final was judged by Hannah Crook, Ann DeRizzio and Karen Sykes.
Winner was Beth Lee and Billy who performed a very accurate and well choreographed routine to 'Kiss me Honey'.
And then time to celebrate...
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